The English transatlantic race becomes French! Known by its original name of OSTAR, or Transat Anglaise, this transatlantic takes the name of The Transat CIC for its 2020 edition. Change of name, but also change of starting city since this mythical race will start from Brest (and name of Plymouth in England) for a finish given for the first time in Charleston (USA). Originally the arrival was given in New York.
Running in spring, the course of this transatlantic race is no easy task. Indeed, it is a question of going against the depressions that cross the Atlantic from west to east during this period. A race that often takes place upwind, in front of the current, in rough seas often in fog.
This race was won by an Englishman in the first edition. Sir Francis Chichester on his Gipsy Moth had won ahead of 4 other competitors. But it was in 1964, when Eric Tabarly won the second edition on Pen Duick II, a sailboat designed and built for the occasion, that this event took its letters of nobility. All great sailors have dreamed of writing their names on the list.
For 2020, the departure will be on Sunday, May 10 at 15:00. The competitors will be divided into 4 classes: Ultim (multihulls over 60 feet), Imoca (Vendée Globe monohulls), Multi50 (50-foot trimarans), and Class40 (monohulls). The organizer (OC Sport Pen Duick) is waiting for about 40 boats on the starting line.
With the arrival of the Fastnet 2021 which will be held in Cherbourg (and no longer in Plymouth), with the Golden Globe Race which started and finished in Les Sables-d'Olonne (and not in England as was the first edition in 1969), here are 3 mythical English races that take place on French soil... A sign?
